Topic explainer

Shops and Shopping in the UK

Supermarkets, high streets, online retail and the shape of modern British shopping.

British shoppers buy most groceries from a small number of large supermarket chains — Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons are the largest, joined by faster-growing discounters Aldi and Lidl. Marks & Spencer, John Lewis and Waitrose are well-known mid-market chains. The "high street" — the main shopping street of a town centre — has been under pressure from online retailers (notably Amazon) and from out-of-town retail parks.

Further reading: an editorial guide on this topic opens in a new window for additional context.

Sunday trading laws in England, Wales and Northern Ireland limit large shops (over 280 m²) to opening for a maximum of six continuous hours on a Sunday. There are no such restrictions in Scotland. VAT (currently 20%) is included in displayed prices, so the price you see is the price you pay.

You may be asked whether VAT is added at the till (it is included in shop prices), or how Sunday trading is regulated.

Test yourself on this topic

These questions from the official-format question bank cover the same material. Tap any question to see the correct answer and a short explanation.

Keep going

Related topic explainers